Results 5,721-5,740 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Protection Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I will emphasise a few points that were made in the previous reply and then I will come to the protocol. HIQA has never found an instance where child protection services, when required, were not immediately available. Tusla does not discriminate on any grounds, disability or otherwise, and all child protection concerns are assessed in line with Children First. Children have diverse needs...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Services for People with Disabilities (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I assure the Deputy that the protocols have been improved and amended effectively over the last number of months. In the past couple of weeks there was a disabilities protocol group meeting in which it identified that there will be a standardised operating procedure governing retrospective disclosures and the sharing of information as well as a number of other aspects, particularly how to...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Remit (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Being homeless is distressing and stressful for children and adults alike. In the context of the Child Care Act 1991, my Department has policy responsibility for children under 18 years of age who present as "out of home" without their parent or guardian. Children under the age of 16 years who present as homeless without their parent or guardian are taken into care. Children aged 16...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Remit (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I, too, am concerned about the amount of time involved. In both my written response to the Deputy and my oral response today, I am trying to make it perfectly clear that the statutory responsibility of Tusla is for the care and protection of children who may require it. That does not necessarily mean if they are with their parents in emergency accommodation. The agency's statutory...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child and Family Agency Remit (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I appreciate the Deputy's passion and commitment on this, and it is important we share that. It will enable a quicker resolution to these issues if we work on this together along with our other colleagues. However, I question some of the Deputy's statements. Although Tusla does not have a statutory responsibility per sefor the care of children in emergency accommodation because they are...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I thank Deputy Rabbitte. I would be a pragmatic idealist. I recognise that the timeframe for introducing the scheme is ambitious, not least because the legislation, as the Deputy states and as I have indicated, will have to be in place before the scheme can commence. Officials in my Department are working to ensure the heads of the Bill will be brought forward for Government approval in...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I am glad Deputy Rabbitte raised this. It is an important consideration. With regard to the rationale for using the PPS number, it is for a particular benefit - that is what is critical here - in order that we can use it to link to the Department of Social Protection and Revenue Commissioners data, thereby allowing a much faster and more user-friendly service for parents, overcoming the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Services for People with Disabilities (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: It is vital to emphasise that the Health Information and Quality Authority has never found, in all of the inspections that it has conducted, an instance where child protection services, when required, were not immediately available. Tusla has reiterated its position that all child protection concerns it receives are screened and assessed in line with Children First: National Guidance for the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Services for People with Disabilities (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire. I appreciate him asking further questions in this regard. The protocol I identified in terms of recent meetings between Tusla and the HSE is effectively an amendment of a protocol that has already been established. Tusla and the HSE, as I indicated, have been in a process of reaching out to one another to identify new ways to ensure, particularly in...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Always.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Care Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I am working to introduce a new affordable child care scheme from next September which will provide financial support for parents towards the cost of child care. The new scheme will provide for both universal and targeted subsidies towards the cost of child care. It will replace the existing targeted child care programmes with a single, streamlined and more user-friendly scheme. I want it...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Education and Training Support Programme (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I propose to take Questions Nos. 34 and 41 together. I am pleased to assure the Deputies that no recipients of the CETS childcare scheme, including new entrants onto the scheme in 2016-2017, will be worse off as a result of the introduction of the Affordable Childcare Scheme. Under the current programmes, including CETS, there are many families with low income-levels who are not able to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I think it is vital to emphasise that the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has never found, in all of the inspections that it has conducted, an instance where child protection services – when required – were not immediately available. Tusla has reiterated its position that all child protection concerns it receives are screened and assessed in line with Children...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: My Department has worked intensively on the expansion of the Early Childhood Care and Education scheme, which began in September of this year. As the Deputy mentions my Department projects that the expanded ECCE scheme will have a peak enrolment of 127,000 children in the April-June session in 2017. This is an increase of 60,000 children from the pre-expansion volume. In anticipation of...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Legislative Measures (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I am working to introduce a new Affordable Childcare scheme from next September which will provide financial support for parents towards the cost of childcare. The new scheme will provide for both universal and targeted subsidies towards the cost of childcare. It will replace the existing targeted childcare programmes with a single, streamlined and more user-friendly scheme. I want it to...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Refugee Resettlement Programme (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: As the Deputy is aware, there was a recent Dáil motion in respect of unaccompanied children who were previously living in the unofficial camps near Calais and work is ongoing. I am co-ordinating my efforts with the Tánaiste and the Minister for Foreign Affairs to ensure that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, is in a position to play its part when the children begin to arrive...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Homelessness Strategy (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: Homelessness, whether for a child presenting alone or as part of a family, is a distressing experience. Children under 16 who present as out of home to emergency services without a parent or guardian are taken into care. Children aged 16 and 17 similarly presenting may be taken into care, or provided with a service under section 5 of the Child Care Act 1991 (accommodation for homeless...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: As the Deputy is aware the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) carried out an unannounced inspection of this residential centre, which is operated by Tusla, in August 2016. The report in respect of monitoring against national standards was published in November 2016. The inspection report identified a worrying level of high risk behaviours by some young people, which staff...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Protection (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: I think it is vital to emphasise that the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has never found, in all of the inspections that it has conducted, an instance where child protection services – when required – were not immediately available. Tusla has reiterated its position that all child protection concerns it receives are screened and assessed in line with Children...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Provision (14 Dec 2016)

Katherine Zappone: My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services by the voluntary youth sector. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000 young people by approximately 1,400 paid staff and 40,000 volunteers. A number of these schemes focus on young people who are disadvantaged, or who are out of school....